WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College softball team split a New England Collegiate Conference doubleheader with Becker College on Thursday afternoon in Weston, Mass. The Pride (4-10, 2-2 NECC) picked up a 6-3 decision in game one, while Becker (4-8, 1-1 NECC) took game two, 9-1, in six innings.
Becker struck first in the opening game as the Hawks put Jessica Wheelahan (Watertown, Conn.) on base when she was hit by a pitch, and she later scored on an RBI single from Megan Cordon (Watertown, Conn.). The Pride responded an inning later with four runs in the bottom of the second as Raegan Heck (Phillipston, Mass.) picked up an RBI single, before Kirbie Garvey (Littleton, Mass.) had a bases-clearing triple that put the Pride on top, 4-1.
Regis tacked on two more in the bottom of the third after Kara Donovan (Woburn, Mass.) led off the inning with a single. Donovan came around to score on an RBI triple by Haley Fountain (Warren, Mass.), and Fountain was later pushed home on a sacrifice fly from Katie Cuozzo (Lynn, Mass.).
Cuozzo pitched well for the Pride, scattering three hits and allowing only the one run through the first six innings of action. In the seventh, the Becker bats woke up as the Hawks received back-to-back singles from Cordon and Megan Bolduc (Dover, N.H.) to start the inning. After two quick outs, Maggie Levesque (North Adams, Mass.) stroked a two-out single through the middle to plate a pair of runs and make it a 6-3 ball game. That would be as close as the Hawks would get as Cuozzo struck out the final batter she faced to pick up her second win of the year.
Garvey led the Pride attack, going 3-for-4 with three RBI's on the day. Haley Fountain and Raegan Heck combined to go a perfect 5-for-5 with three runs scored and a pair of RBI as well. Cuozzo pitched 7.0 innings and allowed three earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts.
Megan Cordon led the Hawks at the dish with a 2-for-3 day with an RBI. Kelsey Norberg (Uxbridge, Mass.) suffered the setback for Becker, tossing 6.0 innings and allowing six earned runs on 12 hits.
The Becker bats carried over into game two as the Hawks banged out 11 hits and nine runs to grab their first NECC win of the season. Jessica Brochu (Hardwick, Vt.) blasted a two-run homerun in the top of the second, and Becker added three more runs in the top of the third on an RBI double by Talan Barron (Methuen, Mass.) and a two run double from Brochu.
Regis scored a run in the bottom of the third on an RBI double from McKinnon, but Becker responded with three more runs in the top of the fifth as Bolduc picked up an RBI single, and Brochu added two more RBI's on a double to put the Hawks on top 8-1. Talan Barron added a homerun in the top of the sixth to help close out the Pride with a 9-1 victory.
Kara Donovan went 3-for-3 in game two with the lone run scored. Fountain, McKinnon, Cuozzo, Heck and Kelsey Heath (Lowell, Mass.) added the other hits for the Pride. Kirbie Garvey suffered the setback, allowing two earned runs in an inning of work. Fountain allowed three runs in 1.1 innings, while Katie Cuozzo gave up four runs over the final three innings.
Jessica Brochu ended game two going 3-for-3 with a run scored and six RBI. Talan Barron went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and two RBI, while Megan Bolduc was 3-for-3 with three runs scored. Megan Cordon picked up her first win of the year, going 6.0 innings and scattering eight hits and allowing only one run.
The Pride step out of conference play next Tuesday when Regis hosts Mount Ida College in a doubleheader starting at 5:00 p.m. Becker does the same as well and will take on WPI in a non-league doubleheader on Monday, April 1, starting at 3:00 p.m.